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Students of whom all of the following are true are subject to the policy:

Graduate student

RP issued in S12, Summer 2012, or thereafter for thesis or project course

Enrollment in no other courses

Completion of all degree requirements other than thesis or project

In accordance with Academic Senate policy F11-2 (Required Enrollment for Report-in-Progress
Units), the F12 semester will mark the start of enforcement of the policy in each
fall and spring semester (summer and intersession semesters are exempt). Graduate
students with an RP grade in a thesis (299) or project (often 298) course in the S12
or later semester are required to enroll in a 1-unit supervisory course, either UNVS
290 or the 290R course in the student’s own department if available. Enrollment must
be repeated in each semester until degree completion except in cases in which the
department requires repeated enrollment in the original project or thesis course.
There are no class meetings for the course as it is supervisory in nature; however,
there will be a fee associated with it of approximately $280. “Stopping out,” or voluntary
absence from the university, will not be permitted in the sense that registration
will be compulsory for this unit each semester. Failure to register will result in
a hold being put on graduation until the unit is retroactively added; a late fee will
be associated with the retroactive action.

The policy applies only to students who are taking no other courses. All degree requirements
must have been completed, as once students are converted to “special session eligibility”
status, they will not be able to return to regular session status. Should any requirements
other than the thesis or project remain, special permission will have to be obtained
from the Associate Vice President or Associate Dean of Graduate Studies & Research
(GS&R) to return to “non-RP status.” The basis of this stipulation is that, whereas
it is conceivable that students are working on theses or projects before completing
the remainder of their degree requirements, they should continue to take units in
those subjects each semester. Students who have RPs on their records only prior to
S12 are not subject to this policy unless they earn another RP in subsequent semesters.
In addition, students on university-approved, formal leaves of absence will be exept
from this policy.

The policy includes language that allows for a waiver of UNVS 290 or Departmental
290R enrollment if the student can document a lack of reasonable attention or guidance
by the thesis or project supervisor. If the student has been prevented from making
satisfactory progress toward completion of the culminating experience by the advisor,
the case can be presented in writing to the Associate Dean of GS&R.

Registration Process

Registration for the 1-unit UNVS 290 or Departmental 290R course must be delayed until
students are given the opportunity to enroll in other courses. If students have the
RP and do not enroll in other courses, they will be eligible for enrollment in UNVS
290 or Departmental 290R. The Registrar’s Office will check to determine the students
who are eligible and will notify the students via a MySJSU message. The students may
then register online through MySJSU. No permission or add code is needed. They will
have until the end of course instruction that semester to register for the course
if they are domestic or nonresident (non-international) students. To maintain their
immigration status, international students will have only one week after the Add Deadline
to register for the course. In each subsequent fall and winter semester, students
will have to register for this course and will be precluded from registering for any
other. The RP grade in the project or thesis course remains on the official record
until a culminating memo is submitted by the graduate advisor to the Office of Graduate
Admissions & Program Evaluations (GAPE), the course instructor in which the RP was
received has petitioned for a grade change, and the student has submitted a current
Application for Award of Master's Degree form to GAPE.